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Meanwhile, the Sudanese military appears to be digging in and building a defensive berm - or earth wall - around the city, satellite images suggest. Unlike the one built around el-Fasher by the RSF last year, which trapped people inside the besieged city, this appears to be defensive and aimed at keeping attackers out.
On Monday, the military also said that a massive operation had secured a vital highway between el-Obeid and the capital, Khartoum. In response, the RSF's leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is known as Hemedti, said he was "unleashing" his fighters and ordered his front-line commanders to "move straight forward. No more retreat. No more hesitation".
Nohad Eltayeb, Senior Research Assistant at Acled, told BBC Verify that the city is a key hub for both sides to the conflict.
"It is the critical juncture connecting RSF-controlled western territories with the military-held central and White Nile regions," Eltayeb said.
She added that the RSF "need to regain momentum following territorial losses in the eastern Blue Nile region, alongside internal instability and defections within its Darfur strongholds".
The joint EU/G7 warning of atrocities in el-Obeid urged all "external actors" to suspend "armed, logistical, or financial support to the parties to the conflict". Earlier this month the European Parliament expressly named the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a key backer of the RSF. Emirati officials have repeatedly denied the allegations.
Alan Boswell, Crisis Group's Horn of Africa Group director, suggested that the flurry of early Western interventions may be motivated by the failure to avert the el-Fasher massacre - which was the culmination of an extended siege and RSF build-up.
"Many are trying to turn up the volume on those warnings to prevent another round of mass atrocities in el-Obeid," he said.
"The key is if world leaders will put enough pressure on the RSF and its main backer to make a difference this time."
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